manual flash?

mmmatt

Hey all!

Is anybody out there shooting events with manual on-camera flash? I have just started working with a studio and she is requiring me to shoot manual flash. NO ETTL!!! I'm shooting 2nd camera for her on Saturday so she can show me how she does it and see if I can acclimate myself. This will be the third 2nd camera job I shoot for her. She wants to book me solo, but doesn't really get how I shoot and is worried I will have a major exposure problem. I certainly understand why she needs to be cautions to protect her business...

She shoots manual flash with a gary fong on an old-school hinged bracket, she manual focus everything, she sets her white balance at 2800K and just leaves it... she never knew how to custom white balance untill I showed her and let her shoot my 135 f/2L in low light without flash at a reception we did together. Only difference between how she shoots now and how she shot her pentax film body a year ago is that she doesn't run out of film as quickly... total old-school. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but not how I have been guiding my own personal Qi.

She subcontracts 5 other photogs and they all shoot manual flash. She is a recent digital convert as are most of her photogs. She loves my eye and my creative compositions but the two gigs I have shot for her she didn't like my flashwork because my exposures varried quite a bit. I'm sure shooting ettl at an event you are going to have variation right? She also doesn't understand white ballance and since I do a lot of back wall bouncing and tend to change my mix of ambient/flash she sees that as exposure when it is nothing more than a slider in PS.

I can't imagine shooting the way I shoot and being able to pull off better exposures shooting manual flash. If I have to shoot a few test shots each time I compose a candid from across the room I will loose every prescious moment she is paying me to capture.

I shoot my studio strobes manual, with a flash meter, but the thought of not being in a static location and having to change my exposure because I moved 5 feet to recompose a shot scares the crap out of me. After my wedding last Saturday, I have deceided I am going to shoot church formals from now on with manual off camera strobes because I had some backlight issues (giant stained glass behind the alter) that tricked my meter on a couple of my larger group shots. Unfortunately I will have to deliver some important photos that are a little noisy due to being a bit under exposed. This was the first time I ever ran into such an extreem backlight situation and I wont EVER be unprepared for that again! I'm not sure that it was even doable with a single flash head (580exII), but I can't say for sure. I'm going to cry if the b&g tell me they want larger than an 8x10 on those couple of images becuse they will look like crap.... my stomach is gurgling thinking about it. New answer is going to be bake the room with light, set my exposure once, and shoot. The 15 minutes it would have taken to set up my stobes on stands would have been sooo worth it! 20/20 hind sight is a pretty good teacher I guess.

the studio owner and I talked for quite a bit on the phone yesterday and I think she will be open to me still shooting in the receptions with ETTL because she agrees that the compositions and the emotions that she wants me to shoot would be tough to shoot manual. She books a lot of outdoor weddings so in many settings there will be backlight situations that may certainly be best shot with manual flash. She suggested me carrying both my bodies and shooting with a different setup in tough lighing situations, but I hate 2 rigs around my neck, and I would be more likely to just switch my flash over to manual when needed. I already shoot manual exposure when I shoot ettl, but I don't think she really gets that either... She isn't a techie at all and maybe she thinks Im shooting in program mode? the only time I really get my butt kicked is when there is extreem backlighing and I compose wide. I understand how shutter speed dictates ambient light level exposure, I adjust flash compensation, and I do use highspeed shutter as well. Obviously I still need to sharpen my skills there though.

ah well... sorry for the rant! I would love to hear how some of u guys handle these things.

Matt

Swartzy

A bit of a predicament for you Matt. I shoot a ton of events, whether it be weddings, parties, graduations. Each system has it's place. Being mobile and continually changing your distance to subject, manual flash will not give you consistent results....not for the "moment" captures. The beauty of ETTL, is, and as you've mentioned, riding the flash exposure comp and adjusting shutter speed for ambient. Also bouncing the light provides interesting highlight/shadow areas which you're well aware.

Manual flash is great once you lock it in and keep the same distance to subject, shutter speed, focal length and DOF. Once you move or your group gets larger, then you have to adjust the power of flash for the look you're after...with this scenario, it makes it less than desirable. Outside is a bit different but again, fill flash is just that. When running around taking candids, you are on the move, the people are on the move and they typically aren't posing...that's the beauty of ETTL.

It sounds as though this photog needs educated. To educate someone it must be diplomatically implemented to where they aren't "aware" they are being educated.

I would suggest you take some of your images that you shot in ETTL (choose the best of course) and point out how the lighting works, where it was bounced, what side or angle it came from, describing how the "look" could only be acheived by shooting in that mode. Also, explaining how if you took the time to properly set the flash in manual mode, the moment would have passed, therefore, no shot.

Good luck with this. It's a hard thing to sway people in a different direction. I have some friends that absolutely refuse to shoot RAW as well. No matter how many examples you show them, it doesn't sink in...then they wonder why they can't get the final images I do.

Scott_Quier

I think Swartzy is right ...
It's an issue of educating this photographer and it will have to be done very diplomatically.

But, I have a hard time understanding how someone can turn from a tool that will only make life easier and/or make it possible to get the required images. With manual flash, there's just too much time involved in setting up the shot, chimping, and adjusting - at least until you get a set of inverse-square law tables imprinted on your brain.

Once you get an intuitive feel for the manual flash settings and for your flash unit(s), I can see where it might actually be both faster and more accurate than relying on ETT-L. I'm not there yet, but I can see the advantages of working all manual.

mmmatt

Thanks guys... I guess a lot of what I wrote was just to inspire some validation that I am not a total 'tard when it comes to this... it is frustrating starting out in this business and shooting under someone elses name. I understand how people do what they do for a reason, and I also understand how some people have a hard time breaking out of the box. Regardless, if you have a business and bring in another person you have to make sure that that person can deliver... I get it.

No way I could ever shoot manual flash the way I shoot now other than typical "standem up, and shoot em down" poses. I'll sometimes have the camera to my eye as I'm moving around, oblivious to my surroundings just so I can pull the trigger at the moment I get the expression or both faces in view, or the bird flying overhead, or her face moving out of the dappled sunlight, or the wind in her hair, or the b&g just pulling their lips apart from a passionate kiss... I couldn't tell you ever how far I am from a subject or what my zoom focal range is at, it is the last thing on my mind! There are times when I have the camera up waiting for that perfect moment and I'll see someone in the corner of the frame convinced I'm taking a pic of them and frustrated it is taking me so long! I'm not claiming to be a vissionary or something, but I know that the difference between a flatering look on a persons face and the look of "mid sneeze" is a fraction of a second. It's about the moment!

I don't know... I guess I will give her the compare and contrast tomorrow. I will find a way to mark when I shoot her way and when I shoot mine. Another thing that burns my ass a bit is that she wouldn't show me her stuff from the day we shot together. She just says mine is all over the place, but doesn't show me what doing it her way produces.

Up untill the other day I was ready to tell her to pound sand, but I need to shoot and I need to get booked for next summer even if I have to compromise some of my artistic ideals. I'm going to the DWF convention in January and there are a bunch of seminars about lighting this year. I wish I could drag her along so she could see the light!!!

Matt

Scott_Quier

mmmatt wrote:

Up untill the other day I was ready to tell her to pound sand, but I need to shoot and I need to get booked for next summer even if I have to compromise some of my artistic ideals. I'm going to the DWF convention in January and there are a bunch of seminars about lighting this year. I wish I could drag her along so she could see the light!!!

Matt

So, tell her to pound sand. Seriously, unless this is your only source of income, you might want to consider jumping in with both feet and striking out on your own. You have the skills. I would guess you also have something of a network of photogs that could second for you if you needed; those that work for her might be a source. The rest is marketing. Might be something for you to consider?

Keep us updated as I'm sure there are others who are interested in how this goes.

picturegirl

Scott_Quier wrote:

So, tell her to pound sand. Seriously, unless this is your only source of income, you might want to consider jumping in with both feet and striking out on your own. You have the skills. I would guess you also have something of a network of photogs that could second for you if you needed; those that work for her might be a source. The rest is marketing. Might be something for you to consider?

Keep us updated as I'm sure there are others who are interested in how this goes.

I totally agree with Scott! I never shot under someone and when I first started everyone that hired me knew my experience or lack of experience. You sound very smart and seem to have a lot of skills that this so called professional does not have. My cousin just started photographing weddings this summer, she charges very, very little. She lets everyone know that books her that she is still learning, believe it or not these clients find her, she does not find them. She is soooo booked it's unbelievable, of coarse she is not making a whole lot but she is developing her own style, skills, etc... and being paid a little to learn. Just make sure you have them sign a contract so they dont come back and say they expected more than what you gave them. Hope this makes sense I was typing fast.

Scott_Quier

picturegirl wrote:

I totally agree with Scott! I never shot under someone and when I first started everyone that hired me knew my experience or lack of experience. You sound very smart and seem to have a lot of skills that this so called professional does not have. My cousin just started photographing weddings this summer, she charges very, very little. She lets everyone know that books her that she is still learning, believe it or not these clients find her, she does not find them. She is soooo booked it's unbelievable, of coarse she is not making a whole lot but she is developing her own style, skills, etc... and being paid a little to learn. Just make sure you have them sign a contract so they dont come back and say they expected more than what you gave them. Hope this makes sense I was typing fast.

Understand this (and her cousin will learn this in time) .... If you start low priced, when it comes time to raise your rates, you will basically starting over. Not a big loss as most low-budget brides aren't going to give you any referrals anyway.

Bottom line - be sure you price yourself appropriately. If you have anything in the way of a portfolio, you should think about pricing yourself in the middle of your market. You, maybe, won't get a lot of bookings, but your clients aren't going to abuse you either (there's a hint in there:D).

mmmatt

Ahhh... and there is the slippery slope! I've thought about this a lot recently and I don't want to work too cheap because I don't want the discount weddings. I'll take what I can get, but I need to find some fairytales along the way. Shooting for an established studio can give me that. She charges a fair rate and it is a bit more than I could get alone at this point. She has an very nice studio space which I'm sure helps her to book more weddings and higher end weddings in general.

I can't afford to tell her to pound sand unfortunately. I work also as a bartender part time, but that isn't enough. I've been working for another photographer doing some post work for her, and another guy is booking me for his b'nai mizvah overflow, but still I need to make more money shooting. A year from now it will be different for me, and I won't need all of this. I am still green and I need to spend as much time shooting as I can right now. A few years ago I was making great money but the real estate market went to hell on me and this is my new career choice. I'm going to be 40 in March and I'm not wanting to screw around.

I will still book my own stuff if I am working with her... She shoots roughly 50 per year and is hoping to book over a hundred next year (almost 80 this year). She basically books herself and then subs out the overflow. She keeps her sub contracted photog's profiles on her website and pays a flat rate to shoot for her. She keeps everyone's schedule updated and if someone is booked from another studio or by themselves she cancels that date off their availability. That makes her studio look even bigger than life actually. All her photogs are part time through her and use her to fill in the gaps. Not a bad business plan actually... If she had a guy doing post for her she would be pretty dialed-in IMHO.

So yeah... I'm hoping tomorrow will result in a compromise. Thanks guys for the support and for having my back here... nice words and good advice from all.

Matt

mmmatt

mmmatt wrote:

So yeah... I'm hoping tomorrow will result in a compromise.

So much for that! I shot the service manual flash, we did some outdoors in the courtyard and I switched over to no flash shooting with my 135 f2L in AP because it was PERFECT diffuse light. Then I told her to pound sand. Why relearn the wrong way to do things? We parted mid-cocktail hour with no hard feelings, and I offered to let her call me to shoot 2nd sometime if I was available (shooting my way of course), and she said she would like that. She just doesn't understand the technology and since she doesn't get it she doesn't have any faith in somebody who does... too bad! She agreed I shouldn't change my style.

ah well... back to the drawing board!

Matt